Uber Wants To Make Flying Taxis Real Until 2020
When Uber first announced that they were planning to expand their business and offer flying taxis, everyone was skeptical and doubted whether or not the company would actually be able to pull something like that off.
But yesterday, Uber started their three-day "Elevate" summit, presenting the public their new concept of aviation.
Uber's goal is to present the new innovation at the World Expo in Dubai in 2020.
The first flying taxis of the project "Uber Elevate" will be ready to order in Dubai as well as Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas.
They are going to be electric aircrafts that can be summoned on-demand with a smartphone app, just like a reghular Uber cab.
Uber plans to make them light, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircrafts, which would have 0 emissions and would be very quiet even in cities. .
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Taking the direct airway somewhere could save huge amounts of time, compared to car rides.
There would be no traffic, no traffic lights, no detours - you'd get to your destination a lot faster!
As an example, Uber stated that a flying taxi could go from San Francisco to San Jose in only 15 minutes - a journey that takes thousands of people over 2 hours by car.
And in the long run, flying taxis will become even cheaper than regular Uber rides!
When the service first launches, Uber will charge about $1.32 per passenger mile, which is a little bit more expensive than an UberX today.
But in the future, Uber stated that the cost of taking a flying taxi instead of a regular one would be come even cheaper for the customer.
Uber has stated that the aircrafts will be piloted at first, but the aim will be to have them flying autonomously later on.
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So how will Uber manage to create something to innovative and risky?
As many probably would've guessed, their plan is to partner with different companies which are already experts in air travel and take advantage of their knowledge and experience.
These are the 5 aircraft manufacturers that Uber has confirmed they'll be working with:
- Pipistrel Aircraft, manufacturing hybrid- and electric planes
- Bell Helicopter, specialized in manufacturing VTOL aircrafts
- Aurora Flight Sciences, born out of MIT's Daedalus Project, working on autonomous helicopters
- Embraer, Brazilian manufacturer of private jets
- Mooney International, aircraft manufacturer
Uber is also teaming up with ChargePoint, who will create a specific battery charger so that the aircrafts can be topped up quickly.
2020 is only 3 years away, so Uber has a major challenge to face and many technical problems to solve.
What do you think - will a service like this become a reality in such a short amount of time?!
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
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© Sirwinchester
hope they hurry up!:)
Yes! I want them to make it available worldwide already, so that I can avoid being stuck in traffic and travel through the air 😬✈️
I live in Alaska and wr have yet to see Uber or Lyft, it's a real shame for the customer.
Skrt
How's the population there? I think Uber only will go into a market that is bigger first.
It's using disruptive technology. Perhaps, you can start one in your market if Uber is ignoring it.
If it's successful, Uber may buy it from you. :-)
Don't forget to give me a share.
Hahahaha. Uber tried to come up and the cab union fought really hard and got it blocked.
But now lyft and uber are trying again. And I think it's going to make it through, because people in anchorage aren't too fond of the only cabs that run in town. They dont have the greatest rep.
There are less tha a million people in the State, with around 2-300000 within 100 miles of Anchorage.
Skrt
Anchorage,AK
Thanks for the info. of there's a taxi company, I'll think it's viable for uber. our taxi companies have to evolved and come out with their own app. some of their drivers also signed up with uber.
Honestly I think there's no point for the taxi companies to keep boycotting uber anymore. Uber WILL be available globally in the near future, there's no point fighting it. Just like online journalism took over print media, uber took over the taxi business. That's just part of the technological evolution. They should adapt to it & make the best out of it by cooperating with Uber.
Plus their next stage is driverless cars. So, Uber is already killing their drivers' job regardless.
Hahaha, yes that's true as well!
The same thing actually happened in Germany - we had Uber for a very short time a few years back, maybe 6 months or so, and then it got blocked as well.
This is really awesome. :D
I've been convinced for the last year or so that we are right now on the threshold of personal electric flying vehicles. The only tech that is presently slightly deficient is the batteries, and there are a number of improved battery technologies coming along.
If governments stay out of the way, we'll all be flying everywhere within the next ten years.
😄😇😄
That would be amazing, imagine the time you'd save daily!
But also, there would have to be a traffic system in the sky to avoid crashes etc. But I'm sure they'd figure that out.
Exciting times are coming!
All the fliers would be networked together - everything in the air would know where everything else is. It would be a self-regulating traffic system. ;)
Yes, LOTS of time would be saved! Not to mention the savings of the obscene hassle of taking your shoes off and being x-rayed by morons...
Technology can't be rolled back - AI will unleash a lot of marvels in the next few years.
We are free to stand on the sidelines and curse it, or we can adapt and benefit from it.
Very true.
There's no point fighting it, so we should all make the best of it.
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Wow this is great news! Hope they will stick to the decision of having only electric aircrafts. Thanks for this information! :)
I just can't quite understand how UberAir can be made cheaper than UberX. Technology always creating miracles.